Martin Tower fans decry potential loss of Bethlehem Steel skyscraper

Fans of Martin Tower rally around the vacant skyscraper as city officials deliberate whether to rezone the property, which would make it easier to demolish the building.

Piece by piece, Travis Christman and his dad, John, spent the spring replicating, in diminutive detail, every inch of the Lehigh Valley's tallest building, Martin Tower.

Starting with a 4-by-4 board, the pair captured the skyscraper's cruciform shape that provided more corner offices for executives at Bethlehem Steel's world headquarters.

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They cut by hand more than 2,000 widows out of pinstriping used to detail cars, giving the nearly 21-inch tall model a glassy look. They used balsa for the model's columns. They landscaped the grounds with tiny trees and grass, added Bethlehem Steel and American flags.

"There's been all this talk about demolishing Martin Tower and I don't want that to happen," said Travis Christman, 25. "But if it does, we have a little piece of it."

Christman is one of 1,807 people who joined the "Save Martin Tower" Facebook page over the past two years as city officials struggle to redevelop the skyscraper, vacant over the last decade on prime city real estate.

Officials in Bethlehem, a city that prides itself on historic architecture from the 18th-century Moravian buildings to the Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, once wanted the tower preserved, too. But City Council this week began considering an ordinance that would remove a decade-old zoning incentive to keep the tower.

Travis Christman, left, and his Father John have built a replica of the iconic Martin Tower building in Bethlehem, seen here in their home on September 29. /(Ed. Note: NEWS - SHARON K. MERKEL / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL - Shot 09/29/15) (SHARON K. MERKEL / SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

"In effect, we would probably be signing the death warrant to that building," Planning Commission Chairman James Fiorentino said.

City officials aren't advocating for demolition, but said they wanted to give developers flexibility in getting the 53-acre tract at 1170 Eighth Avenue repurposed.

Duane Wagner, a representative of Martin Tower developers Norton Herrick and Lewis Ronca Jr., has said the developers have not decided on the building's future.

The debate largely has been about what mix of office, retail and/or residential space is best for the site, whether or not Martin Tower is still on it. But there remain some people who want the tower saved — no matter what.

For the most part, they aren't leaders of organizations, city planners, investors or elected officials, but the offspring of those whose families toiled at Steel for generations. Their voices virtually have been unheard in what has been described by one businessman as the most important decision to face City Council since the Sands casino. At Tuesday's packed, four-hour meeting, just a few people urged council to save the Martin Tower.

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Stefanie Aranyos, 20, of Allentown gave the preservationists a voice when she started the "Save Martin Tower" Facebook page. She has extended family who worked at Bethlehem Steel, including a great-grandfather who worked there as an electrician, and remembers stories passed down about her grandfather climbing the steps to the blast furnaces.

Like the blast furnaces, preserved and lit with architectural lighting, she said Martin Tower is a symbol of a company that not only shaped world events with its steel, but also the lives of the people who worked there.

"There are so many people who love that building," she said, "it would be a loss for the entire Lehigh Valley."

Fans have posted images of Martin Tower. They share photographs of the storied doorknobs emblazoned with Steel's logo, hand-woven carpets and knickknacks from the gift shop.

One man posed his motorcycle in front of the tower for a tourist shot, and others posted photographs of the view from the inside when they worked there.

In a September post, one mom talks about how her 6-year-old daughter has marveled at the building's height since age 2. At a nearby softball field, she said the girl brags she is going to hit the ball to the tower and has cried about the possibility of the tower coming down.

Aranyos proclaimed on Facebook that when Martin Tower reopens, "I'm going to change the name of this page from 'Save Martin Tower' to 'Visit Martin Tower!'"

Andrew Dorman, a Bethlehem resident and fan of the Facebook page, was among the few who told City Council there has to be a way to reuse Martin Tower.

"In my opinion, Martin Tower is a landmark that promises future investments, and tearing it down would just be a return to mediocrity," Dorman said in an email. "In fact, the tower would serve as the perfect foundation to possess the Bethlehem Star on its rooftop — a beacon to the future just as much a reminder of the past."

Martin Tower was listed in 2010 on the National Historic Register even before it reached middle age. The listing — a move by developers to avail themselves to historic tax credits — was granted based on its historic importance to Steel, which helped build America's skyscrapers, battleships and armaments.

Designed by Haines, Lundberg and Waehler Architects of New York, the glass-and-steel structure includes marble bathrooms, hand-woven carpets and walnut-paneled walls.

It took 15,894 tons of structural steel and 1,500 panels of porcelainized steel plates for contractor George A. Fuller of New York to build Martin Tower. The ductwork runs 110,000 feet and the plumbing and heating pipes 165,000 feet.

"It has a strong muscular character like a big football player," said Hyun-Tae Jung, an assistant professor of architecture at Lehigh University. "Look at the wide columns, they emphasize the height. The color is gray, showing strong solidity like a rock — the strength of Bethlehem Steel."

Bruce Thomas, a Lehigh University associate professor of architecture who wrote about Martin Tower in his "The Buildings of Pennsylvania" book, contrasted Martin Tower to Lehigh Valley's only other skyscraper, the PPL building in Allentown.

PPL's older concrete structure has the "grace" of an urban building as it tapers toward the sky, Thomas said. Martin Tower, on the other and, is just lopped off at the top.

It was built in a cruciform shape — a concept conceived in Europe after World War II, but impractical to build in the worn-torn countries. It was a nice design for apartments because of the windows, making it an interesting choice for a corporation on the verge of economically challenging times, Thomas said.

Martin Tower is neither a good nor bad example of architecture; it is really "sort of banal," Thomas said. He said the principal reason Martin Tower made the Historic Register is because of the story it tells — a modernist tower built at the wrong time for a business that was in trouble in America.

"It's like a tombstone in that way," Thomas said.

When Martin Tower was built, Bethlehem was the largest employer in the region, the second largest steelmaker in the world and the 14th largest industrial company in the nation. It employed 122,000 people at five plants, shipyards and other operations. And the brains of those operations worked out of the tower.

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The iconic structure has been the backdrop for many neighborhoods over a generation, rising in the distance from Travis Christman's backyard in east Allentown.

Three of Christman's great-grandfathers toiled at the Steel and his family still keeps a white hard hat one wore at the mill during the 1940s. They passed down stories of their work at the plant, so the former executive offices at Martin Tower are a point of pride.

Martin Tower tells not just Bethlehem's story but Christmans' family story. That's why the Christmans embarked on their mini labor of love. Their tiny replica will keep the memory alive, even if the tower comes down.